Lefty Driesell, who arguably did more to put Maryland athletics on the national map than anybody, spoke as if he did not recognize the school with which he was once synonymous.

“To me, college athletics is not professional sports. It’s for the students, not the alumni, not the money-makers. You play it for the students, not to make money,’’ said Driesell, the men’s basketball coach from 1969-86 and the second-winningest coach in program history.

“But Maryland seems to do a lot of things for money. They’re really in trouble,’’ he added Monday from his Virginia beach home, hours after Maryland’s move from the ACC to the Big Ten was approved by the school board of regents.

Driesell, who turns 81 on Christmas Day and retired from coaching in 2003, ticked off a long list of ways the conference switch would be a detriment to his former school—led by recruiting, attendance and academic performance affected by the increased travel.

“I feel sorry for the players. I think it’s gonna hurt the players,’’ he said, recalling former players whom might never have chosen Maryland had it been a Big Ten school then instead of in the ACC. “Buck Williams, he was from Rocky Mount, N.C.—you think he’d have gone to Maryland if we hadn’t played down there?’’ he said. “John Lucas was from Durham. A lot of my players were only four hours away from here. Tom McMillen’s dad didn’t fly; he never would have let his son come here.

“You play against your rivals. You don’t play because of money,’’ Driesell said. “Part of going to college is going to play the games, then going home for the summer and seeing all the guys you grew up with and just played against, and saying, ‘We beat you this time,’ or ‘You beat us last time but we’ll beat you next time.’ Kids see each other growing up, then they go to Duke or N.C. State or Wake Forest or Maryland, and they know each other and play against each other

“Is Maryland going to get players to come here from the Midwest and play with guys they don’t know, and then their parents and families never get to see them play, either?

“If I sign with Maryland, I want to play against ACC schools. I just think it’s ludicrous.’’

In addition, he said, the trips across time zones will certainly make players miss more classes than they did when the bulk of the ACC spanned just four states, as they did when Driesell coached. Plus, he added, fans and students would have less of a chance to travel to games; speaking of an old acquaintance who has rarely missed a game home or away for decades, he said, “Now he won’t be able to go … He can’t afford to fly. He’d go broke.

“If it’s being done for money, that’s just wrong,’’ he said. “It’s not gonna hurt the ACC, it’s just gonna hurt Maryland.’’